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Rory McIlroy is the headline act in San Antonio this week as Ben Curtis defends his Valero Texas Open title.

Last Updated: 03/04/13 2:29pm

McIlroy has added the event to his schedule to get in some much-needed extra competitive golf ahead of next week's Masters.

The world No 2 looked to have turned a corner with a top-10 finish at the WGC-Cadillac Championship, but his erratic form returned last week in Houston where he narrowly made the halfway cut.

A tie for 45th place on four under - 12 shots behind winner DA Points - was hardly encouraging ahead of the Masters, and he joins the likes of Charl Schwartzel, Matt Kuchar and Ian Poulter in a decent San Antonio field.

McIlroy the favourite

Despite his struggles, McIlroy lines up as Sky Bet's 8/1 favourite ahead of 9/1 chance Schwartzel, who is also making his debut in the event, but the top two are likely to be upstaged by the consistent Matt Kuchar.

The affable American claimed a popular victory at the WGC-Accenture Match Play in February, and he earned a share of 13th here last season despite an uncharacteristic second-round 76.

Kuchar is offered at 11/1, while Charley Hoffman finished on the same score as Kuchar last year and looked in decent touch at Redstone following a barren couple of months.